1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fitting structure of a connector for a board in which the board connector is mounted to a wiring board, and a mating connector is fitted to the board connector through a hood provided on an equipment case in which the wiring board is accommodated.
2. Description of the Earlier Art
A proposed connector coupling mechanism will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 3.
FIG. 1 shows a state in which a board connector 5 is mounted to a wiring board 3 accommodated in a meter case 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the board connector 5 and a mating connector 7 fitted to the board connector 5.
The board connector 5 comprises a housing 9 and a male terminal 11. In a state in which a tip end opening of the housing 9 is fitted into a through hole 3a formed in the wiring board 3, an end of the male terminal 11 pulled out from the housing 9 passes through the wiring board 3 and is fixed to a conductive portion by solder 13.
The meter case 1 is formed with a through hole 1a corresponding to the through hole 3a. The through hole 1a is formed with a hood 1b projecting leftward in the drawings such as to cover a periphery of a tip end of the housing 9.
A projection-forming portion 15 on the mating connector 7 is a lock-releasing lever, and includes an engaging projection 15a. The housing 9 is formed with an engaging hole 9a with which the engaging projection 15a engages.
If the mating connector 7 is fitted into the board connector 5 through the hood 1b of he meter case 1 from the state shown in FIG. 1, the engaging projection 15a is inserted into and engaged with the engaging hole 9a as shown in FIG. 3, and both the connectors 5 and 7 are locked and fixed to each other. At that time, a portion of the mating connector 7 is projected from the through hole 1a of the meter case 1.
When the mating connector 7 is detached from the board connector 5, a portion of the mating connector 7 projecting from the meter case 1 is picked to resiliently deform the lock-releasing lever 15, and the lever 15 is pulled out in a state in which engagement of the lock-releasing lever 15 with respect to the engaging hole 9a of the engaging projection 15a is released.
In the above-described conventional fitting structure of the board connector, when the mating connector 7 is detached from the board connector 5, it is necessary to pick the end of the mating connector 7 so as to resiliently deform the lock-releasing lever 15. Therefore, the height H of the mating connector 7 is formed relatively long so that the mating connector 7 projects from the meter case 1, and since the mating connector 7 includes the lock-releasing lever 15, its structure is complicated, which also increase costs of the connector.
It is an object of the present invention to prevent a mating connector to be fitted into a board connector from being increased in height and from being complicated.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a fitting structure of a connector, comprising a equipment case, a wiring board accommodated in a bottom in the equipment case, a first connector mounted on the opposite side from the bottom, a second connector fitted to the first connector through a hood provided on the bottom, an engaging arm of the first connector having a movable-side engaging portion which is engaged with a fixed-side engaging portion provided on the second connector, and a lock-releasing lever for displacing the engaging arm such as to release the engagement between the fixed-side engaging portion and the movable-side engaging portion, the lock-releasing lever being operable from outside the equipment case.
According to the fitting structure of the board connector, if the mating connector is fitted into the board connector through the hood of the equipment case, the fixed-side engaging portion of the mating connector is engaged with the movable-side engaging portion of the board connector, thereby rocking and fixing both the connectors to each other. When the mating connector is to be detached from board connector, a finger of an operator is inserted into a play around an outer periphery of the lock-releasing lever to operate the lock-releasing lever for displacing the engaging arm and with this operation, the engagement between the fixed-side engaging portion and the movable-side engaging portion is released.
With the above arrangement, it is unnecessary to project a portion of the connector from a surface of the bottom of the equipment case in the fitted state, and it is possible to prevent the height of the connector from being increased to lower the connector, the structure is simplified, and costs of the connector can be reduced.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, the engaging arm is disposed on each of left and right side as viewed from an insertion direction of the mating side. If the mating connector is inserted into the board connector, fixed-side engaging portions of the mating connector are respectively engaged with the pair of engaging arms on the left and right opposite sides of the board connector.
With this arrangement, both the connectors can reliably locked and fixed to each other.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, a base end of the engaging arm is fixed to a bottom on the opposite side from the wiring board, and a tip end of the engaging arm is fixed to the wiring board, the lock-releasing lever is located inside of the engaging arm to displace the engaging arm outward. With this arrangement, from a state in which the mating connector is fitted into the board connector, if the lock-releasing levers on the opposite sides are operated to displace the engaging arms outward, the engagement between the fixed-side engaging portions and the movable-side engaging portions is released.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the first aspect, the engaging arm is made of metal plate which can be resiliently deformed. With this arrangement, if the lock-releasing levers are operated, the engaging arms are easily resiliently deformed to release the engagement between the fixed-side engaging portions and the movable-side engaging portions.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the fourth aspect, the movable-side engaging portion comprises an engaging hole provided on the metal plate, the fixed-side engaging portion comprises an engaging projection which can enter the engaging hole. If the mating connector is fitted into the board connector through the hood of the case, the engaging projection of the mating connector is slid into the engaging hole of the engaging arm of the board connector so that both the connectors are locked and fixed to each other.